It was another hot week here in the south and the humidity was out of control. Can it be fall already?!

On Saturday morning, I met up with my friend Heather for a run with a new local running group. Our running group had the day off, so we decided to check out a new one! The routes were all familiar to us, although we wish we would have gotten started a little earlier. Ah well...lesson learned! We ended our run a bit over six miles and called it a day!

On my way home, I stopped by Starbucks to pick up breakfast for my friend Kim and I. Kim offered to watch Brayden while I ran because Jason was working days. So nice of her!

I started my Monday morning off with a nice run. It was a beautiful morning, too!

Although I wasn't initially trying, I ended up with negative splits - the first mile was 9:23, the second mile 8:59, and the third 8:48. After seeing the second mile right below 9 minutes, I knew I wanted to try and push it for the third mile. I was winded for sure, but it felt great!

All done!

On Tuesday afternoon, my little one and I went out for a 2 mile walk. He stayed awake the entire time (he never does) and enjoyed looking at the trees and everything that passed us by!

His Mickey fan is a big hit, too!

I intended to run on Thursday but ended up a the dentist AGAIN. This time was a minor fix that took maybe 30 seconds and all is now well. Thank goodness! I'm going to attempt to either run or cross train this afternoon after work.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Miracles, they surround us every day and sometimes
we don’t have to look far to see them. I have a miracle of my very own and my
heart can’t help but smile every time I look at him. You see, it wasn’t that
long ago that my husband and I were told we would not be able to have children
on our own measures. We suffered from Male Infertility Factor and my husband’s
counts were so low (basically non-existent), in vitro fertilization (or IVF)
was our only option to attempt to conceive. I say “attempt” because we were
given a less that 40% chance of IVF even working properly for us to conceive,
that's how bad our numbers looked on paper.

After a surgical repair and a couple of months of clomid
on my husband’s part, we were set to have a few tests to see if any numbers had
changed. That testing never took place.

Last year on this very day, I found out I was
pregnant. Pregnant…a word I never thought I would ever hear. I’d also
never seen a positive pregnancy test before and I couldn't believe my eyes, so I took two. My
husband couldn't believe it, either!

Now flash forward to exactly a year later...I have a 16
week old who looks JUST like his daddy. Everyone who sees my little guy always
says the same thing - "I can't believe how much he looks like his
dad!"

Now, think about this.......my child, who wasn't
even supposed to be here because of an infertility issue on my husband's
part, looks JUST like his dad. If that doesn't tell you something about
miracles and the faithfulness of God, I don't know what else will!

I have to laugh about this day last year because
it also happens to be my mom's birthday. We returned home from our Cooperstown,
New York trip on a Monday evening last year and I decided to take a test on
that Tuesday afternoon. How
I found out I was pregnant, then had dinner with my parents on my mom's
birthday without saying a word is beyond me!!

Notice the time and date on the photo above and the photo with my mom and
I...it was just about an hour apart. How was I even able to keep that news to
myself?! Maybe I was still in shock?

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

***Please keep Deb, the originator of the Disney Wordless Wednesday blog hop in your prayers. Her husband Paul passed away a few weeks ago and I know she would appreciate it! Thank you!***

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I've had Disney on my mind lately...like a lot. With the recent opening of registration for Princess and finally booking our rooms for February, the countdown is on! I am so excited for a lot of firsts for my little family and I!

Speaking of firsts, for today's Wordless Wednesday I'm sharing our very first Disney World photo together, which stems from our Honeymoon in 2007. Although this trip was not a first to Walt Disney World for either of us, it was our first together!

When we arrived at WDW, we headed straight for Epcot and apparently the Seas! The second photo was our first castle photo...

...and they lived happily ever after. Awwww... :)

Hard to believe we will be married 10 years in April! Time flies when you're having fun!

Have a great rest of your week!

When you think about your first Disney photo, what image comes to mind?

Monday, July 25, 2016

Hello and happy Monday! This weekend was a busy but fun one and I really enjoyed spending time with my little boy! :)

On Friday night, we attended a going away party for one of Jason's cousins. They are moving overseas for several years and had a "bon voyage" party to say goodbye!

The sunset was gorgeous, too!

I also spent time with my running buddy Heather for her birthday!

We had sushi and I ordered fried rice because I wasn't sure what I could and couldn't chew (#mouthtroubles).

With the leftovers, I managed to make three meals out of that fried rice!

What's a birthday without cake (cupcakes)?!

Even though my husband worked the weekend, I still managed to get my long run done! Our running group didn't meet on Saturday, so Heather and I decided to try a new running group in town. A new running store recently opened, so we met up with their group and enjoyed a six mile run. It was HOT and we got started a bit later than we like but we know better for next time! Even though our running group didn't officially meet, a few runners from the group graciously set water and Gatorade coolers around the area! It was really nice, especially when we weren't expecting it at all!

I am incredibly grateful for my friend Kim who offered to watch Brayden while I ran!

On my way home, I stopped by Starbucks to grab a to-go breakfast for both Kim and I. :) I always order an iced non-fat caramel macchiato and when I got to the window to pick it up, it was in a "hot" cup. I guess the girl saw the look of disappointment on my face because she asked what was wrong. I told her it was all my fault and I meant to order it iced....whoops. Even though I said it was totally my fault, she took the drink back from me, said "no biggie", then made an iced version instead! It was SO very nice and much appreciated...especially since I was so hot after the run!

This clip on (and portable) mobile is GENIUS! It attaches to anything and Brayden loves it! Win/win!

On Saturday afternoon, my mom and I attended a wedding shower for one of my cousins. Her theme was "fiesta" and included quesadillas and a taco bar with all the toppings! YUM!

Y'all....this sleeper came from Target and it was on clearance for super cheap! I do love a good bargain! :)

On Sunday morning, I made Mickey waffles out of banana nut bread mix. Did you know you can add just a little extra water to the box mix and use it in a waffle iron? They were delicious!

After church, we had lunch at Newks with my parents. The margherita pizza reminded me of the pizza on board the Disney Cruise Line in Palo. I also had a bowl of their squash soup which sort of reminded me of butternut squash soup on DCL. Newks squash soup had a bit more cinnamon flavor to it, though.

Hey....look over there! :D

We had a fun weekend and once again, it flew by way too fast! Here's to another fun week ahead! Hope you have a great Monday!! :)

Friday, July 22, 2016

This week, I've dealt with a good bit of mouth pain. Both teeth that were filled within the last year have decided to cause trouble and both need to be filled AGAIN...at the same dang time. I told my dentist to just pull all my bottom teeth and give me dentures but he convinced me that's not the answer nor the solution I am looking for. Dramatic much? Yes. Tooth pain is no joke.

Yesterday, I had one tooth fixed and on Tuesday I'll have the second. I don't care, as long as this goes away and I can eat normal food again, I'll be happy!

Know how to lose those last five pesky baby weight pounds? Have teeth issues...or get a virus. At this point, I'm not sure which one is worse!

On Saturday morning, I met up with my running buddy Heather for a quick run around town. Jason was working nights so in order to be respectful of his time and sleep schedule, I decided to cut my run short. It was still a good run despite the circumstances and I'm grateful I was able to get the run in at all!

After church on Sunday evening, Brayden and I took a little walk around the neighborhood....

...and within minutes, he was out!

We did the same thing again on Monday evening!

Only this time, my friend Kim joined us for the walk. It was a gorgeous evening and the sunset was beautiful!

On Wednesday morning (before my mouth pain became too unbearable), I woke up early before work and set out on a three mile run.

I decided since it wasn't as hot the day before due to rain, the morning would be "cooler". Wishful thinking - 94% humidity...ugh.

The run wasn't as quick as I wanted it to be and I had to stop for a few walk breaks during the last mile.

All done!

In non-running related news, a friend from my running group and her mom stopped by to visit me at work this week. They gave Brayden this beautiful gift - it's a hand-stitched Mickey Mouse quilt!

We are all big Disney fans so they know how much this blanket means to me! Also, it was gifted to us in a Disney parks shopping bag...isn't that too funny?! They sure know me well! I know Brayden will love his Mickey Mouse quilt, too!

That's all for this week! I'm crossing my fingers for a mouth-pain-free weekend! Have a great one!! :)

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Do you ever sit back and think "this time last year, I was doing such and such..."? I've been doing that a lot lately, especially since around this time last summer, I was pregnant and didn't even know it! Last August, we opened up about our struggle with infertility, told our families we were pregnant, recorded the entire experience, then shared it with all of our family and friends on youtube in September. We've received lots of well wishes and congratulations from viewers over the past year - some of you even sent gifts for our baby which was oh so sweet and incredibly appreciated!

Since that time, I've had several people ask for a baby update/video...so on the 4th of July weekend, I made one! :) Yep, I vlogged. It's been AGES since I created a vlog and I was feeling kind of rusty, so I decided to give it a try once again. (I also can't WAIT for Disney World in February and Princess Weekend vlogs...YAY!)

I know I'm late in posting this since the 4th was like forever ago but oh well...here it is! I also know that vlogs aren't everyone's thing...no worries, I'll be back to my usual blogging style tomorrow, without a video camera! :)

I completed Saturday morning's run with my running buddy, Heather. It was the first day of sign ups for fall marathon training with my running group and spirits were high. It was great to see some old friends out there I hadn't seen in a while and it was also great to meet some new ones! I met a girl who is running Princess, too! She's new to our running group, so it was great to get to know her a bit!

In total, we ran 6.6 miles (we got off track just a bit). It was wonderful to run and let the miles pass by while we talked...long runs with friends are the best!

On Monday, I woke up early and went for a run before work. That run was the final portion of runDisney's Running Shorts Virtual 5K series. You can read more about my run here.

It was my fastest 5K to date since having Brayden three months ago and I was super proud of my time! I did push myself and my goal was to complete at least one of the three 5K's under 30 minutes. I finally made it on the last and final 5K!

Thursday morning's run was really humid and hot but a good one! Around half a mile, I looked down at my watch and saw a time of 8:53. I haven't run a mile in the 8's in MONTHS, so I decided to see if I could make it to a mile without slowing down. After reaching a mile, I decided to just keep running and see what happened. I had to be at work a little earlier on Thursday morning so my run was cut short to two miles. It was rough at the end, but I pushed hard to finish the last mile under 9 minutes.

Overall, I couldn't have been more proud of my runs this week. Although there were only three of them (not including today), I am happy with the outcome of them. It's so encouraging to know that I AM improving and my body is returning to it's pre-pregnancy running state, slowly but surely!

...and just because I had to, here's a little dose of sweetness for the day! :)

Thursday, July 14, 2016

If you’ve followed my running status over the past six
months, you know I had to defer Disney’s Princess Half Marathon which took
place in February (I was 35 weeks pregnant at the time). I wrote a post all
about the first part of my deferral process here, but now that it’s all said
and done, I am going to revisit and let you know about the second part of the
deferral process.

When we left off in part one, I’d received an email from
runDisneyletting me know that an official registration email would be in my inbox two weeks before outside registration
opened for the event.

Sure enough, on June 28th that email came through
to my inbox complete with instructions on the registration process. Included in
the email was an official link which was specialized to me and my information.
It was also a onetime link that couldn’t be used again for an additional
registration. Also, the email instructed me that I could only re-register for
the same event I’d registered for the previous year (in my case, it was the
Glass Slipper Challenge). I was only credited the amount I paid for 2016’s race
and since the Glass Slipper Challenge for 2017 went up an additional $15.00, I
was responsible for that additional amount.

The process was super easy and in no time, I was registered! Yay!

Deferral registration opened on July 5th and
stayed open for two weeks. If I would have missed that timeframe, my
registration would have been forfeited.

On one hand, it was nice to already have my registration in
place and not freak out about getting into the race on registration day.
However, I didn’t like all of the additional fees that came along with the
deferral process. For the Glass Slipper Challenge, I paid an additional $70 to
defer (this total includes the deferral fee and the additional costs for 2017’s
registration). For the 10K, we paid an additional $65 to defer (this total also
includes the deferral fee and the additional costs for 2017’s registration).
Overall, I’m not sure the deferral fees were “worth it” for the 10K, but I’m
definitely glad they were in place for the Glass Slipper Challenge!

Oh yes, this might have happened, too. Whoops.

I honestly hadn’t even considered the possibility of Brayden
doing the Diaper Dash until I browsed the registration page on Tuesday. After
reading up on it, I just couldn’t help myself! I’m even more excited now for
Brayden’s first trip to WDW AND his first runDisney event! Yay!

Have you ever deferred a runDisney event? Has your little one ever done the Diaper Dash?

I decided to wake up early on Monday morning to run before heading into work and I'm so glad I did! Running during the summertime is so much easier in the early morning here in the south.

The temps that morning were in the upper 70's and the humidity was high. The forecast also called for heavy rain but after checking the radar, I saw this....

...crickets... No rain for miles and miles! Yay!

The run began at an easy pace but as the miles went by, I somehow picked up my pace (not on purpose). Once I realized after mile 2 that I could finish the run with negative splits, I decided to continue pushing my body to see if I could run a 5K under 30 minutes. This is something that hasn't been accomplished since my return to running after having Brayden 3 months ago. My body is also hanging on to those extra 5 pesky pounds...they need to go...like now.

In the end, my mile splits were -

Mile 1: 10:00

Mile 2: 9:32

Mile 3: 9:04

Wahooo!!

Returning to running after so many months off has been a tough one. I'm nowhere near my pre-baby self, but small accomplishments like this one are so encouraging!

I finished this run hot, drenched in sweat, and excited for my accomplishment. It may seem like a tiny pebble to some, but it was definitely a stepping stone for me! Patience is also not one of my strong points...

Overall, I really enjoyed the virtual 5K series! It was nice to feel as if I was a part of a runDisney event this year, even though I wasn't able to actually attend an event at the parks themselves. I did feel as if the price was a little steep for what you received (basically just medals). If you wanted a bib, the link was posted on the runDisney event facebook page/the race website vs a printed bib being mailed to your home. I also felt as if communication for this race was severely lacking. Basically, you registered for the race, received a confirmation email, then didn't hear anything else at all (at least I didn't).

The medals are to be mailed within 30 days after the challenge is complete (or individual race if you only registered for one), so I should have them soon! I can't wait to see them!

Did you participate in this series? If so, what were your thoughts?

P.S. - Today is the launch of my friend Heather's e-book! Stop by and check it all out! It's also her birthday so be sure to tell her happy birthday while you're there! :)

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Hi! Welcome to Just Me & My Running Shoes! My name is Karen, I am a 30 year old runner, Disney lover, & Oncology Nurse. I am passionate about volunteering, fitness, traveling, and living an overall healthy lifestyle. Want to contact me? I can be reached at:kren2700@gmail.com.Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!